Target scoring aid



P 1950 ca. PAULUS 2,521,087

TARGET SCORING AID Filed Nov. 17, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/GZ. F/G. 4.

I8 Z6 /7 27d IN VEN TOR. n y G Pa u/us P 1950 H. G. PAUL-US I 2,521,087

TARGET SCORING AID Filed; Nov. 1'7, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H'QZ AINVENTOR. Henry G. Fuzz/u;

BY x @WWCZM Patented Sept. 5, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TARGETSCORING AID Henry G. Paulus, Burlington, Vt.

Application November 17, 1948', Serial No. 60,573

5 Claims.

My present invention has for its object the provision of a m thod ofscoring rifle and pistol target nring hits herein each bulletpenetration maybe accura e y evalu ted r a ess of th obliteration. ofthe target sc r n ings due t concentration of shots at any location onthe sheet. I

A further objec of my invention is to provide a scorin d vi e which aybe superposed on a target to visually relocate those portions of scorinlines which m y h ve been limi ated y a cluster of shot by using asuperposed member having arcuate lines or edges corresponding to one ormore of the target scoring circles and thus remove any doubt as to thecorrect value of each shot penetrating the target.

Another object of my invention is the prevision of a scoring aid whereina plug gauge co operates with a selected are en the aiding element toprecisely locate each bullet penetration in respect to the scoring areasof the tar et.

still other objects and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing description pi the present invention illustrated in theaccompany ing drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a face view .of a ring target showing one form of myinvention used for scoring shots in a conventional .50 yard small boretarget.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the scoring aid per se.

Figure 2 isan elevational view .of a plug gauge for convenient use withthe scoring plates comprising my invention.

Figures .3 to '7 are views illustrating various shapes .of scoringplates to .be used with one form of my invention.

Figure 8 is a bottom view of another iorm of my invention, and

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9W9 of Fig. 8.

similar reference characters in the several drawings indicate similarparts.

In all rifle and pistol tar et shooting, except where only one shot isfired at a target, it frequently occurs that a grouping of shots createsa number of concentrated hOles in the target which may overlap more orless and often eliminate aportion of at least one of the scoring ringsprinted on the face of the target- This situa tion makes it difiicult toproperly credit the rifleman with a correct score since it is left .forthe score marker to draw conclusions, predicated on his imaginationas towhere the ring linesvshculd be. It will be appreciated that anarbitraryde' cision beeomesduite critical, espe ially in som netitivemat hes nd a reat d al of rgument m y on cccas eh aris Bullets inpuncturing a paper target do not as a ule leave a c ear ut hale ut atheran seem ing from which the pap r tern having a some what ja g d i cumfeenc This in turn is sur ound d by a rger area e size of the bullet in whch t paper i srup ed and mere or less h edd d. the shr ds b ing pu h dbackwa d beyond the plane of the rear s de of the sheetncwever t etarget bein o Pap r t ere a tendency for these disrupted edges t springback somewhat into place. But mor thant s when scoresare bein reco d dse eral tar ets may be stacked or a target may be laid ia e ubpermest ona plane suriace. such as a table top w-ith the consequent result thatthe displaced fibers sur rounding theshot holes may be pressed back intolace with the consequent result that it is ditficult to distinguishbetween the actual periphery .of the bullet hole and thecente-r holefirst mew tioned above. The scoring should be predicated on the area ofthe bullet hole proper and not .on the size of the smaller hole fromwhich the paper was clipped or torn away.

To eliminate any question as to correct evalua tion of each shot firedthrough a target, a plug gauge is used which may be inserted into abullet hole in question'and in cooperation therewith '1 have provided anumber of scoring plates which have means thereon for precisely locatingthe erstwhile position of the obliterated scoring line in respect to theadjacent extremity of the circumference of the bullet penetration asclearly defined by the plug gauge.

Alternatively I further provide a scoring aid as a unitary structure inwhich the elements of my invention are combinedcomprising a transparentdisc to which the plug gauge is fixed and on which there are inscribedcooperating scoring arcs corresponding to the several target scoringrings as will later be more fully described.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing I have shown a conventiona yard small bore getA upon which there appear ,a number of bullet penetrations some of whichare designated by numeral to. v A in the case with all good marksmen,some of the shots may penetrate .the bull's-eye while others may beclear of a ring or clip it in the clear while other shots may beclustered vas at B, such grouping completely eliminatin a p rtion orscoring ring such as the line i l, which defines the periphery of thatarea .on the target valued at nine points. Thus with the are [2, lyingbetween points l3 and [4, having been removed it will be readily seenthat any bullet holes in the eight point arcs which might lie inproximity with the position formerly occupied by arc l2 would beincapable of being precisely scored due to the arbitrary or inaccuratereplacement of arc l2 in the imagination of the scorer.

To properly deal with the scoring problem 11- lustrated in Fig. 1, Ihave shown a plug gauge [5 inserted into the bullet hole to be scored.The gauge I5 (Fig. 2) consists of a cylindrical finger grip l6 and acylindrical penetrating end I! of a size and shape smaller than thecaliber of the bullet used. Above the tip I! is a flange [8 of the samediameter as the bullet. Since the actual hole remaining in a paper orcardboard target is of smaller size than the bullet due to contractionof the paper and radial tearing, it is necessary to have the penetratingend of the gauge of less diameter to flt snugly in the perforation whileat the same time an adjacent collar or flange will represent the actualsize of the bullet. This plug gauge when in position clearly defines thelocation of the periphery of the bullet as it passed through the target.

- For relocation of the arc I2, I have shown in Fig. 1 a generallyID-shaped scoring plate W and illustrated the latter separately in Fig.1 This plate may be made of any convenient materialsuch as sheet metalor plastic and contains thereon concentric arcuate edges of radii equalto that of three pre-selected scoring rings of the target. In thepresent illustration the line formed by the edge 19 of the plate willlie coincident with a portion of the bulls eye ring 20, the

line of edge 2| with the ten ring 22, and the line of edge 23 with thenine ring II. The edge 23 of the scoring plate will thus .bridge the gapformed by the shot cluster B and will clearly which the excised arc llof the target ring should Since the bullet size flange l8 of plug gauge15, as shown in Fig. 1, does not quite touch the plate representing arc.l2 it is immediately conclusive that the bullet hole in question lieswholly within the eight point area and should be accordingly scored.Should the position of the plug gauge be such that proper alinement ofthe scoring plate i with its respective target rings would be impossibleor if the aligned plate should betangent with the gauge it woulddemonstrate conclusively that the bullet hole overlapped or touched thescoring ring and the marksman would be entitled to the score of thehigher valued area.

In Figs. 3 to? I have illustrated various shapes in which my scoringmembers may be made in the form of plates. Since the concentric scoringrings of a'conventional target progressively increase in equalincrements, it will be obvious that the size of the" plates shown may beselected for cooperation with any adjacent scoring rings of atarget.

Figure 3 shows a scoring plate 24 which is circular in shape and for thepurpose of illustration has been shown equal in diameter to the ten ring22.

The plate 25 shown in Fig. 4 presents two 180 degree arcs 26 and'Zl 'foruse with scoring rings '22 and H respectively. The larger are havingshallow notches 27 which may vary in depth and as these are outaccording to the plug It may cooperate therewith for greater accuracyinform the score marker of the exact location in 4 in determining theposition of a bullet hole with reference to the ring printed on thetarget.

In Fig. 5, the scoring plate 28 is provided with arcuate edges 29, 30and 3| for use with ten, nine and eight rings respectively or thisparticularly shaped plate can be correctly sized to accommodate anythree adjacent scoring rings on the target being used.

Scoring plates 32 and 33 have respective arcuate edges 34 and 35 whichcan be formed with radii equal to that of the nine ring, as shown, orany other scoring ring of the target as desired.

It is to be understood that the various scoring plates shown in thedrawing are but a few illustrations of the many possible combinations ofarcuate edges which may be incorporated in a device within the scope ofmy present invention.

In Figs. 8 and 9 I have shown the above described features incorporatedin a single memher for carrying out my method of target scoring. Acomparatively thick transparent disc 36 of any suitable plastic materialhas embedded in its lower face 31 a center pin 38 comprising a pluggauge. The latter has a flange 39 the lower surface of which is flushwith the disc bottom 37.

t corresponds to the diameter of a bullet and is used the same as thecorresponding part I8 of the gauge shown in Fig. 2. A penetrating tip 40of the gauge protrudes from the bottom of the scoring disc.

Molded or inscribed on the lower surface 31 of the scoring discarearcuate lines 4l, 42, 43, 44 and. 45 respectively equal in radius toeach of the progressive scoring rings of the target. As will be seen inFig. 8 these lines are each so positioned as to be tangent to thecircumference of the gauge flange 39 and correspond to the arcs of theaforementioned separate gauge plates.

In the operation of the scoring disc shown in Figs. 8 and 9 the tip 40of the gauge is inserted into the bullet hole to be scored and the discis then rotated to determine if the proper arcuate line on thetransparent material coincides with or lies inside of its correspondingscoring ring on the target. If the line is inside of or coincident withthis ring the marksmans shot receives the higher scoring value. On theother hand should the arcuate line fall outside of the scoring ring itthen becomes conclusive that the bullet penetration lies wholly withinthe lower valued area and should be scored accordingly. It will be seenthat by inscribing on the bottom of the transparent disc a correspondingarcuate line for each scoring ring of the target used, this form or" thedevice may be used for the accurate scoring of any shot registered onthe target.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a target scoring aid wherebyconcentrated or clustered shots may be accurately evaluated by the useof a plug gauge and arcuate lines which cooperate to precisely locatethe relative positions of a bullet hole and an obliterated portion of anadjacent scoring ring. The precise locating effect of my device removesall doubt as to the correct valuation of each shot fired in competitivemarksmanship.

While a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, itwill be understood that variations in details of form may be madewithout departure from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. A device for scoring individual hits on a ring target, comprising abullet hole defining plug, said plug having a penetrating end of lessdiameter than the bullet and an adjacent collar of equal diameter to thebullet, a member having arcuate edges corresponding to certain scoringrings on said target, said plug and plate cooperating to locate the trueposition of the bullet hole and its adjacent scoring ring.

2. A device for aiding in determining the scoring location of bulletholes in a target, comprising a plate having a plurality of arcuateperipheral portions each corresponding to a portion of one of theconcentric scoring rings on a target for eifecting registration of theplate with a given one of said lines when superposed on the target, anda bullet hole defining plug having a peripheral portion equal indiameter to the bullet cooperating with said plate to accuratelydetermine the relative position between a selected bullet hole and itsadjacent scoring ring.

3. A target scoring device comprising a bullet hole defining plug havinga peripheral portion equal in diameter to the bullet, a separate platehaving at least one arcuate edge corresponding to a scoring ring on saidtarget, said arcuate edge when superposed on its corresponding ringserving to precisely locate said ring relative to said bullet holedefining plug.

4. A target scoring device comprising a bullet hole defining plug havinga peripheral portion equal in diameter to the bullet, a separate platehaving a plurality of concentric arcuate edges equal in radius toselected scoring rings on the target, any one of said edges whensuperposed on its corresponding ring cooperating with said plug toprecisely locate said ring relative to the bullet hole.

5. A device for scoring individual hits in a cluster of shots on targetwhich has cut away a portion of a scoring ring by such fire, comprisinga bullet hole defining plug having a peripheral portion equal indiameter to the bullet used, a reproducing plate having a rim equal incurvature to said scoring ring for superposing on the target to indicatethe true position of the cut away ring portion of the target said plugand plate cooperating to locate the relative positions of the scoringring and bullet hole.

HENRY G. PAULUS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 133,842 Alt Sept. 22, 1942 D.147,526 Brown Sept. 23, 1947 1,604,232 Lipke Oct. 26, 1926 2,117,317Hakenjos May 17, 1938 2,264,296 Clark Dec. 2, 1941 2,292,501 Wiles, JrAug. 11, 1942

